page_title: Traveling-wave tube
hierarchical_section_title: Traveling-wave tube
caption_attribution_description: English: The traveling-wave tube "Shtormovka". Desined in town Fryazino Russia in the 1980's for the first in the series communications satellites "Gorizont". Chief designer of TWT "Shtormovka" is Myakinkov Yu. P. Русский: Лампа бегущей волны "Штормовка" (главный конструктор Ю. П. Мякиньков). Спроектирована в 1980-х годах для первых спутников серии "Горизонт".
context_page_description: A traveling-wave tube or traveling-wave tube amplifier is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency signals in the microwave range. The TWT belongs to a category of "linear beam" tubes, such as the klystron, in which the radio wave is amplified by absorbing power from a beam of electrons as it passes down the tube. Although there are various types of TWT, two major categories are:
  Helix TWT - in which the radio waves interact with the electron beam while traveling down a wire helix which surrounds the beam. These have wide bandwidth, but output power is limited to a few hundred watts.
  Coupled cavity TWT - in which the radio wave interacts with the beam in a series of cavity resonators through which the beam passes. These function as narrowband power amplifiers.
  A major advantage of the TWT over some other microwave tubes is its ability to amplify a wide range of frequencies i.e. a large bandwidth. The bandwidth of the helix TWT can be as high as two octaves, while the cavity versions have bandwidths of 10–20%. Operating frequencies range from 300 MHz to 50 GHz.
context_section_description: A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. The TWT belongs to a category of "linear beam" tubes, such as the klystron, in which the radio wave is amplified by absorbing power from a beam of electrons as it passes down the tube.  Although there are various types of TWT, two major categories are:
  Helix TWT - in which the radio waves interact with the electron beam while traveling down a wire helix which surrounds the beam.  These have wide bandwidth, but output power is limited to a few hundred watts.
  Coupled cavity TWT - in which the radio wave interacts with the beam in a series of cavity resonators through which the beam passes.  These function as narrowband power amplifiers.
  A major advantage of the TWT over some other microwave tubes is its ability to amplify a wide range of frequencies i.e. a large bandwidth.  The bandwidth of the helix TWT can be as high as two octaves, while the cavity versions have bandwidths of 10–20%.  Operating frequencies range from 300 MHz to 50 GHz. The power gain of the tube is on the order of 40 to 70 decibels, and output power ranges from a few watts to megawatts.
  TWTs account for over 50% of the sales volume of all microwave vacuum tubes.   They are widely used as the power amplifiers and oscillators in radar systems, communication satellite and spacecraft transmitters, and electronic warfare systems.
caption: Ruselectronics TWT from the 1980s used in the Russian Gorizont communication satellites
exif: {}